Join us for the Art Opening Reception of CULTURAL LANDSCAPES by Lida Penkova
Saturday, March 25 | 5 - 7 pm
Show runs through May 3rd

I’m a self-taught artist, originally from the Czech republic. Art came to me later in life as a way of being, as a life lived in silence, after many previous years of thinking, discussing and analyzing (having previously worked as a researcher and a psychotherapist). However, those first decades served the next; only now can I dedicate myself to creating magical spaces, telling stories, and figuring out textures and colors.

My inspiration comes mainly and most importantly from untrained artists and artisans of indigenous cultures : Inuit print makers, Australian aboriginal artisans, Mexican bark painters, “folk” and “outsider” artists, Indian miniature painters, etc. As many who’ve seen my artwork know, I’m interested in diverse cultures, especially pre-industrial ones. I paint and carve (linocuts) scenes from everyday life of places in which I’ve lived or traveled. Sometimes these are places I’ve only read about or studied: their cultural customs, shamanistic traditions, and mythological stories.

Painting and traveling are related for me. When I paint I travel to distant places in my mind, to cultures which awoke my curiosity, and impressed me with their visual aesthetics. And when I travel my mind paints internal pictures - “real” and imaginative scenes where every day life, cultural events and mythological stories intersect.

My paintings, linocuts and canvases in this exhibit are inspired by these cultural areas/ countries: Irish, Mexican, aboriginal Australian, Inuit, Indian/ Tibetan, etc.

Some of the pieces have more thorough description than others; they represent stories or mythologies that need to be told to be understood. There are different groups of my artwork according to cultural areas. I also separated black & white linocuts from those that are hand-colored. The large canvases will be on the second floor. If space allows, I want to add some more affordable reproductions.

Presentation: I began to mount the linocuts on painted plywood a few years ago, instead of traditionally framing them. It is a more satisfactory art process in which the creativity continues and I can extend the theme from linocuts to the plywood.

I moved to Lafayette from California only a few months ago and this is my first local solo art show. I am grateful to my wonderful new friend and a talented artist Rebecca Lefebvre for her help with putting the show together; and last but not least to Leslie Wing-Pomeroy for giving me the opportunity to exhibit in the enjoyable space of the Cafe. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

I hope you will enjoy the show.